Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Henri Boustany and rescue paramedic Scott Freedman search for a missing abalone diver on Sunday, April 28, 2013 near Fort Bragg. The diver was found dead.

Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Henri Boustany and rescue paramedic Scott Freedman search for a missing abalone diver on Sunday, April 28, 2013 near Fort Bragg. The diver was found dead.

Photo: Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, Courtesy

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The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office used a helicopter — like the one pictured here searching for an abalone diver in 2013 — to rescue three men whose boat capsized off the coast north of Sea Ranch on Wednesday afternoon. less

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office used a helicopter — like the one pictured here searching for an abalone diver in 2013 — to rescue three men whose boat capsized off the coast north of Sea Ranch on ... more

Photo: Sonoma County Sheriff's Office / Courtesy

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Three abalone divers were killed in separate accidents over the weekend in Northern California, where powerful rip currents were reported.

Three abalone divers were killed in separate accidents over the weekend in Northern California, where powerful rip currents were reported.

Photo: Google Maps

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3 abalone hunters die off North Coast

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Three people died while abalone fishing along the Northern California coast over the weekend, something authorities characterized as a "very unusual occurrence."

"It was the beautiful weather that brought people out," Sonoma County sheriff's Sgt. Ed Hoener said Monday. "There are dozens of people up here on any given day to go diving. It is not unusual to have a fatality every year, but it is especially unusual to have three die in one weekend."

The first victim was a retired firefighter from Pacifica who was spotted in the ocean near Sea Ranch at 1 p.m. Saturday, Hoener said.

A sheriff's helicopter crew pulled 66-year-old Cedric Collette of Pacifica from the water, Hoener said. Collette was still wearing a dive belt.

Collette "was in very good shape and was an apparently experienced diver," Hoener said. "We're investigating whether or not he had a medical emergency while he was under the water."

On Sunday morning, the same helicopter crew was called to Fisk Mill Cove at Salt Point State Park after Kenneth Liu, 36, of San Francisco, was swept off the rocks and carried out to sea in a rip current, Hoener said.

Liu had been scavenging for abalone during low tide. Divers in the area tried to rescue Liu but were unable to reach him in time, Hoener said. Helicopter-crew members recovered his body.

On Sunday afternoon, the helicopter crew received a report of an abalone diver who had disappeared off the coast of Fort Bragg, Hoener said.

Rescuers spotted the man's dive line and found his body 15 feet underwater, Hoener said. Mendocino County officials have not released his name.